Portugal 2022 trip with pics

It's been a while since I added anything to the forum here, and I just got back from a short vacation with over a thousand photos to sort through, edit, and try to make sense out of. I had been planning to visit Portugal for at least a couple years. I had been waiting for the right time, for things to open up, for certain things in my life to happen. I just kept pushing the trip back over and over.

I had also spent some time over the past couple years rethinking my hobby of going out to eat, taking photos of food, then uploading them to the internet. I have spent the time rethinking some of the the decisions that go into it, my motivations have changed, I don't care about some of my old hobbies and habits like I used to.


Part 1: first taste of Pastel de Nata


One of the things that made me want to go to Portugal was the Pastel de Nata. I grew up in a big city with a Chinatown and I can remember visiting the sweet shops for the baked goods with a million layers of pastry underneath a little bit of sweet filling. The pastel de nata is a little bit similar.



My first stop after checking in at the place I was staying in the Graça neighborhood was A Padaria Portuguesa. I would later find out this was a chain with a few dozen locations.






Just three doors down the street my next stop was Pastelaria A Cabreira. I feel like I could just walk down the street and eat some of these things at each bakery I find.





One of the first places I wanted to check out in Lisbon was a neighborhood named LX Factory, in which some old industrial buildings had been changed into an art workshops and restaurants. But I ran into an issue when confronted by the restaurants in the high traffic and often visited areas. They just didn't look very tempting. There was one place I wanted to try, the one with pasteis the nata at A Nata do LX.






Finally we have a place next to the Elevador de Santa Justa lift that connects the Baixa neighborhood with the hilltop area next to it. This is Nataria Nacional, with even more Pasteis the Nata for my craving that is only getting bigger.


The wide angle of the phone camera lets me capture the lift and the Nata place in one shot:


After trying some Pasteis the Nata, I wanted more.


A Padaria Portuguesa
Largo da Graça 14
Lisboa, Portugal

A Cabreira
Largo da Graça 22
Lisboa, Portugal

A Nata do LX
LX Factory
Rua Rodrigues Faria, 103
Alcântara, Lisboa

Nataria Nacional
Rua Áurea, 253
Lisboa, Portugal


Coming up: This was just the beginning, the first bite, a couple places near where I stayed and some next to the tourist attractions.

Make sure to take the tram out to Belem for the original Pasteis.

(And check out my previous threads on Lisbon for the place with the best bang for the Euro - Carvoaria Jacto)

Part 2: Getting some sandwiches in Lisbon.


Lisbon does not lack sandwiches. The constant is the papo seco roll, a little tough on the outside and airy soft in the middle, with a dusting of flour on the top. The sandwich shops pull the cuts of pork out of the giant pan holding bifana meat, where they have been marinating forever. The buns hold the juices from the meat and keep your hand mostly dry. The biggest decision is whether to get a slice of cheese on top. Or how much mustard to spread on top of the meat. The low prices and fast service meant I could make return trips to a couple of the places here.



I was walking along a busy street in the Príncipe Real area when I saw a place with some signage indicating they specialized in pork sandwiches. The line "É do cachoço!" was on the sign, and I honestly didn't know what cachoço referred to but it looked like pork and I looked it up after. This was Sandes de Cachaço, made from pork neck, cooked slow in the oven.





Another stop was O Trevo, in the central Chiado neighborhood. This place serves up sandwiches and beers and little snacks for the fast moving crowd that rushes in and out from the busy street.

The bifana com queijo:


The prego com queijo:





The walk up counter spot, As Bifanas do Afonso, right next to the central area Baixa neighborhood. This place has two counters to order bifanas from, and a couple wooden counters on the side of the building to put your plate down while you eat them.



The awkward walk up counter, giant container of mustard for the sandwiches:

The bifana:



The bifana com queijo:






In the shadow of the Time Out Market in the Cais do Sodré area is the little lunch counter O Triângulo da Ribeira. This was in a building with serious renovation work that meant stepping through the scaffolding to get into the tiny spot. I couldn't step back to take a picture without blocking someone's path to get a seat in the back. The cooking area with the bifana pan only had one little spot for another pan to warm up prego steaks or eggs to top the sandwiches.

The prego com ovo, the steak sandwich topped with an egg.


I regret not finding time to make a return trip to this spot. They have a bunch of sandwiches with toppings and snacks to choose from. The most expensive item on the menu was E3.20, the prego spot in the Time Out Market has a menu that starts at e10.00 or more, I know its not a one to one comparison but these sandwich spots are very affordable.




Suja Mãos
R. Monte Olivete 71
Príncipe Real
Lisboa, Portugal

O Trevo
Praça Luís de Camões 48
Chiado
Lisboa, Portugal

As Bifanas do Afonso
Rua da Madalena 146
Sé de Lisboa
Lisboa, Portugal

O Triângulo da Ribeira
Rua da Ribeira Nova, 48
Cais do Sodré
Lisboa, Portugal

Coming up: I might find my way outside of town to visit some beaches and castles and sweet shops.

Oh how I've missed trip reports! Thank you Tyrgyzistan!

Part 3: Day trip to Cascais and Sintra


I had started the day thinking of catching the train to Estoril, then walking to Cascais before taking a bus to Sintra. Google maps proved to be essential to finding the right bus to get me from here to there and waste as little time as possible. This area on the coast is sometimes referred to as the Portuguese Riveira for its affluence and luxury. Not exactly a fit for my bargain hunting lifestyle but I wanted to get out there and see what it was like.




Estoril has a couple train stations to hop off from, and one is close to Pastelaria Garrett. A destination bakery best known for a fruit cake they call Bolo Rei. This bakery is the go to brunch place for the movers and the shakers of the riviera for a long time. The place was far too busy to get a table, without waiting for half and hour or longer. I had to grab this little foldover thing with ham and cheese inside, and take it out with me while I walk along the seaside path to Cascais. The morning was about sixty degrees at this point but every local was wearing hoodie sweaters or puffy jackets.





I ran into a problem while walking around the streets in Cascais. The place is beautiful, it has lighthouses and beaches and pedestrian streets with the cute tile patterns. The thing is the whole town center seems to be packed with bars and restaurants that didn't look real interesting to me. I had been through the pedestrian area, strolled through a shopping center, then found a market outside the main area with a food court area.



There was a stall specializing in leitão, which translates into piglet or suckling pig. HM Caneira has a couple locations in the region. Here is is more like a young pig cooked whole before being chopped into little pieces for sandwiches. The result has some crispy skin, some fatty parts, white meat and some other parts of the pig to go with.


The sandes leitão com rúcula e queijo de serra. Young whole pig with arugula and local cheese. The cheese was just oozing out of the side, the meat had different textures. Good sandes.

The other part of the market has a huge open area with all kinds of plants and produce, in the corner is the air conditioned area with the fish mongers.





The most often recommended bakery in Sintra is Casa Piriquita. The address, on Rua das Padarias or Baker Street, seemed to fit. The specialty is the travesseiro, made with folded over pastry and an almond filling. This place was also too crowded to get a table, it is tiny. So I took the baked goods with me while climbing up and down the steep hills on paths connecting the castles and gardens.

The travesseiros:




A final stop in Sintra before catching the train back to Lisbon at the end of the day. The full name on the sign reads "Fábrica das Verdadeiras Queijadas da Sapa" indicates that they make the "true" Queijadas de Sapa. I was looking up the literal translation for queijada, and google says it is cheesecake. What they sell here are more diminuitive, quejadinhas.

These are little pastry shells filled with almond and cinnamon flavors. These are very small and very affordable.



I would strongly suggest paying the e10.00 for the tourist bus around Sintra or the e30.00 for the tuk tuk to take you around. The climbing up and down hills took a toll on me at the end of the day. Weeks later I checked the Health app on my phone and the step counter for this day was at 45,000 steps and an estimated elevation gain of 125 floors. I hadn't used the app before so I don't know how accurate or useful the information is, but I didn't go on vacation with the intention of losing weight, I just like walking around new places.


Pastelaria Garrett
Avenida de Nice 54
Estoril, Portugal

HM Caneira
Mercado da Vila de Cascais - Loja 36
Rua Padre Moisés da Silva 29,
Cascais, Portugal

Casa Pirquita
Rua das Padarias 1/18
Sintra, Portugal

Queijadas da Sapa
Alameda Volta do Duche 12
Sintra, Portugal



Coming up: might get back to Lisbon before heading out on the train.

Funny, we didn't run into sandes much. What we saw a lot of are soups, including an awesome dogfish soup in Evora, and the porridge-like bread and shrimp 'soup' açorda. But that pork, cheese and arugula sande looks pretty awesome.

I am very much enjoying this journey, Tyrgyzistan. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Part 4: Some Coffee in Lisbon

Chovia, it rained. It rained for about half of the days I was here. It was windy, and rainy. I had to adjust some of my schedule, to spend certain days out and about when its sunny compared to when it is raining. Rainy days mean I want coffee and baked goods in the morning.




The landmark coffee shop in the center of everything in Lisbon is Café A Brasileira. This is the place with a long history, detailed in a very thorough wikipedia page. The statue in front is the poet Fernando Pessoa. The entrance is classic Art Nouveau. This is what people think of when they imagine a historic coffee shop bakery in the middle of a European capital city.



The Double Espresso. The best coffee is from A Brasileira.




I was walking through Campo de Ourique when I stumbled across O Moço. The full name on their website is O Moço dos Croissants. I should have gotten one of the big croissants.



Single Espresso with a small palmela or sugary palm snack.




On the north side of the central Baixa area, I found Copenhagen Coffee Lab & Bakery. This seemed to be a hang out spot for northern Europeans. I couldn't make out what language the customers were speaking, but this place had a big crowd of foreigners. I found out later this is a chain with locations in Denmark, Germany, and France.



The latte, with what I think they called a Kanelsnegl.




The local chain Fábrica Coffee Roasters seemed to have the most consistent high quality coffee drinks and atmosphere. I came in on a rainy day while walking through the very central part of Chiado and found their Rua do Comércio location.



The Flat White.



It was raining so hard I struggled to get a picture of the sign.


I returned to their other location at Rua das Portas de Santo Antão on a brigher day.



The latte.




Their logo is the Rooster of Barcelos, on top of a portafilter for espresso.





Café A Brasileira
Rua Garrett 122
Chiado
Lisboa, Portugal

O Moço dos Croissants
Rua Coelho da Rocha, 91 A-B
Campo de Ourique
Lisboa, Portugal

Copenhagen Coffe Lab
Rua dos Douradores 190
Lisboa, Portugal

Fábrica Coffee Roasters
Rua das Portas de Santo Antão 136
Rua do Comércio 111
Lisboa, Portugal

Coming up: I head up north on the train to the second city of Portugal.

Just effing stunning! Thank you for the awesome report and outstanding images. You've really given us a true sense of the place, which is invaluable. Thanks again, for taking the time. I know I'm not alone in my envy -- and my appreciation of your effort.

=R=

Part 5: Porto first stops



I get off the train in Porto and it is even colder and rainier than it was in Lisbon. It turns out Porto is in a rainy climate area and cold rainy days are not unusual. I would start getting acquainted with the town by visiting some of the historic buildings and attractions and the places really close to them.



This is Torre dos Clérigos a tall tower at the top of the hill overlooking the rest of the central area by the river. The tower is like a pin on a map of Porto, you can see it from almost anywhere in town. The little green facade that reads Casa Oriental, is a Loja de Conservas, canned fish preserve store. This is a high traffic area with visitors to the tower.





This is the place next to the conservas store, Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau. This is part of a group of restaurants selling giant pastel de bacalhau to throngs of tourists. But today it was rainy, there were no hordes of tourists, I stepped in as the only customer there. The locations I saw had a display window where you see a guy mixing the bacalhau with the potatoes before wrapping the mix around Queijo da Serra cheese and sticking it into the oven.


The Pastel de Bacalhau, a giant egg of cod fish, potatoes, and melted cheese center. The wafer attached is like a Catholic religious wafer. e5.00





But back to Casa Oriental, this building used to be a grocer specializing in products from Portuguese colonies. Today it is a location of COMUR - Conserveira de Portugal. COMUR operates a cannery and chain of canned fish stores with locations at every tourist sight in Portugal. They often have eye catching store displays like big cardboard models of sardine cans loaded on a model carousel or ferris wheel. The stores are just obviously tacky and gimmicky and I don't actually see a lot of people in them when I walk past. But canned fish are a specialty of Portugal and Spain, and I was in the neighborhood of several of these places so I thought I would give it a try.



They gave me a bag with a special box and an extra platic bag to keep the first bag dry while I walked around in the rain. I can't complain about the packaging. The prices started at about e6.00 for basic sardines or bacalhau. The rarer fish here would run up to e20.00 I don't know a lot about canned fish, but this is not standard everyday canned tuna from the grocery store. There are bars and bistros that serve canned fish on local bread as tapas.



This was my haul of canned seafood, I will have another update about some other lojas de conservas later in my trip.



The two chains above, COMUR and Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau, along with Cafe A Brasileira Chiado, are operated by the same restaurant group that operates several chain brands in tourism hotspots of Portugal. From my experience, I can say that the customer service and overall experience was nice and convenient even if the prices and interior design were a little over the top. The stores and restaurants are in buildings that maintain a good sense of architectural unity with the surrounding areas. Lots of indoor and outdoor seating, lines move fast, family friendly. Good for a stop on vacation, I don't think the locals come here often.




Just because I was in a new city, my cravings for Pastel de Nata did not go away. My fist stop was in the Pastelaria Tupi. Named for the Indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, they inspired the classic Brazilian phrase Tupi or not Tupi, that is the question...


Two from Tupi.



The next place I had to try was the decadent art deco design with azulejo tiles bakery shop Castro - Atelier de Pastéis de Nata. This place, like others has locations in Lisbon and Porto.


Gimme Two!




It was raining nearly every day I was in Porto, but I was on vacation and I felt like ice cream even though it was really cold and windy. GELATOPIA - Gelados de Sonho, it was there when I was walking by, so I looked at the flavors on display and one looked good.


Gelato de Nata, in a fabrica that makes the gelato in an open area in the back.


Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau - Clérigos
Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 108
Porto, Portugal

COMUR - Casa Oriental
Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 111
Porto, Portugal

Castro - Atelier de Pastéis de Nata
R. de Mouzinho da Silveira 61
Porto, Portugal

Pastelaria Tupi
Rua de Sá da Bandeira 144
Porto, Portugal

GELATOPIA - Gelados de Sonho
Rua de Ferreira Borges 68
Porto, Portugal

Coming up: I have to eat some food that fits the cold rainy weather here in Porto.

I recall seeing a COMUR in the Lisbon airport too. Definitely aimed at tourists; I'm sure much of the same types of product can be had at local supermarkets.

Tyrgyzistan wrote:. . .

As a sardine lover who is starting to dip a toe into high-end waters this image makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Part 6: Cold Weather food in Porto.


I didn't exactly prepare for my trip to Portugal. I didn't pack any warm layers to add, no umbrella or raincoat. Maybe I was focused on the wrong things, trying to figure out travel protocols and flight times. I was actually caught by surprise at how cold it was. I am drawn to different foods when it is cold.




I saw Moamba do Heroísmo on google maps and thought it would serve a dish called Muamba. This place seemed to be more like a typical lunch counter with some Angolan specialties added on. The owner/operator who talked to me spoke American English as his family lived in Houston for a while. He took a lot of time to explain the different dishes on the Angolan menu. He even said his daughter knew how to cook American seafood from her time there. Maybe there is a market for that here, I sure didn't see any American seafood but I saw plenty of other concepts imported.


Mufete a ilha de Luanda. Mufete is the style, I can't remember the type of fish. Served with onion and garlic sauce, with bananas, sweet potatoes and beans on the side.



Handwritten menu with the Portuguese and Angolan lunch counter dishes.





Porto kind of feels like England. It has long links to England, the warehouses for the wine by the river have English names. Its cold and rainy. I may as well try the English style fish and chips while I am here. Codfixe really pursues a high end version of the English chip shop. This place has a modern service counter with ordering on a tablet and then choosing a seat. There is an open kitchen with a window where you can see the cooks lightly battering the cod fillets, and I mean lightly battered, almost no batter at all.


The fish and chips presentation.




I couldn't make my way across town for a few days without some stops for coffee drinks. So Coffee Roasters, had a menu with something they called Dirty Chai. I ask what the drink is, they tell me it is a chai latte with a shot of espresso thrown in.


Dirty Chai



My Coffee Porto, this place is tucked away on a stair walkway from the main riverfront area. The picture is the door on the left, they spread out chairs in the open area when its sunny outside. Its in between many buildings that are either abandoned or undergoing renovation. They have a great view of the river to look at while you drink your coffee.


The latte.



Moamba do Heroísmo - Restaurante Luso-Angolano
Rua do Heroísmo 59
Porto, Portugal

Codfixe
Rua de Cedofeita, 301
Porto, Portugal

So Coffee Roasters
Rua de Sá de Noronha 119
Porto, Portugal

My Coffee Porto
Escadas do Codeçal 22
Porto, Portugal


Coming up: I will grab a sandwich here in Porto before heading out.

Part Seven: Grabbing some sandwiches in Porto



I had a bunch of places to choose from when it came to sandwich spots in Porto. This was just a sample of what I could get to. They have a big selection with certain neighborhoods featuring plenty of sandwich restaurants.



I arrived a little late from the train and the place I was staying was close to a busy market named Mercado Bom Sucesso. This is in a relatively well off suburban part of the main city of Porto known as Boa Vista. O Forno do Leitão do Zé is a local chain with locations all over Portugal serving up Leitão in sandwiches and dinner plates of the slow cooked pork meat.



This was the Sandes Leitão com Queijo. Once again, great pork meat with varied texture and oozing cheese.



Porto has a neighborhood around an open square known as Praça dos Poveiros, and there are a lot of places here selling the local specialty, The Francesinha. I decided to try the offering at one of these places, Café Santiago. The exterior is covered with media clippings of all the awards the Francesinha sandwich has won over the years. Their menu and the graphics on their website outline the many layers of the signature sandwich, five kinds of meat, cheese inside and out, toasted bread, a fried egg and sauce.


The Francesinha com batata. This was one of the few things I found that compared portion size wise to what you get at American restaurants. The place was filling up with people as I was eating and every single person was getting this giant sandwich. Judging by the number of other locations of Santiago, and other places in the neighborhood, and around Portugal selling the sandwich, I get the idea it is an attention getter and a money maker.



Conga is the local legend when it comes to the bifana sandwich places. The set up with the big pan of marinating pork was a little different here. One of the guys had a huge plastic tub with a picture of a pig and the word "banha" in big letters that he was emptying into the big pot. The marinade is different, a darker red in the big pot. Conga sells its own bottles of piri-piri sauce, along with quite a selection of merchandise for fans of the place.



Bifana, the little bits of sauce on the bun and dripping down onto the plate. The pork meat was thin and soft and the sauce was a little spicy with a little bit of an aftertaste.



The cafeteria Flor de São Bento really doesn't look like much from the outside. But it has its sandwich selection in a window and in addition to the local specialties it had several types of "panado" or fried meat sandwiches. These are most often chicken, but I also saw them in fish or turkey or here there was pork. This place was across the busy street from Estação de São Bento, a classic European train station with a grand open space, high ceilings and azulejo tile artwork, built in 1904. The best train station I saw on the whole trip by far.


The Sandes Panado de Porco, served cold. I think I know how to take a photo of this sandwich.



O Forno do Leitão do Zé
Mercado Bom Sucesso
Praça do Bom Sucesso 74 90
Porto, Portugal

Café Santiago
Rua de Passos Manuel 226
Porto, Portugal

Conga
Rua do Bonjardim 318
Porto, Portugal

Flor de São Bento
Praça de Almeida Garrett 11
Porto, Portugal


Coming up: I take the train to a few other places on the way back to Lisbon.

Part Eight: Taking the train to Aveiro and Coimbra



Aveiro is just a couple stops down the coast on the Intercity train from Porto. Its historic town center is just a short walk from the train station so I could check in my luggage and walk along the canal to the old city and the salt flats. Later I took the train and finished to day in the University town of Coimbra. Coimbra is an ancient town on a hill with buildings built in old city walls and medieval architecture and a library filled with centuries old Portuguese books that costs quite a bit to take a tour of.




Ecomuseu Marinha da Troncalhada, with the salt flats and the White Gold covered by a tarp since it had been raining. The coast of Portugal has these kinds of sea salt flats all over the place. The practice of making salt here goes back a long time. The workers pull off the surface film and avoid stirring the mud underneath while the water slowly evaporates. The wind here picks up the highly salinated water and little bits of it get into the air and the whole place has a very salty sea side feel to it. The local salt is available in bags in the old town.




Aveiro is also known for Ovos Moles, little sweets made out of egg yolks and sugar with a rice paper layer holding them together. There must be at least ten bakeries offering these things in the small town center around the canal. I tried them at Confeitaria Madre Odisseia, right next to the Igreja da Misericórdia Aveiro.


Ovos Moles de Aveiro, the orange colored filling inside these was very sweet.



On the way back to the train station, along the main avenue leading to town, is another spot specializing in pork sandwiches. Zé do Pernil had sandes de leitao and pernil on the small menu of sandwiches.


Sandes de Pernil, slow cooked pork shoulder.



On the side of Coimbra far from the train station is low key diner cafe with signage advertising the best sandwich in the world. Café Atenas specializes in the Francesinha.



Their Francesinha com batatas, each place that serves this sandwich tries to do it just a little different. Here they have an egg on top with several kinds of meat inside.




In the old town of Coimbra, next to the centuries old Igreja de Santa Cruz, is Café Santa Cruz. This is in a former chapel with vaulted ceilings and a vast selection of baked goods.



Coimbra has a couple of sweets it specializes in, today I chose the Pasteis de Tentúgal. Filling was similar to the Ovos Moles above, here in folded over pastry dusted with powdered sugar.



The sweets I ate at Confeitaria Madre Odisseia, and Café Santa Cruz are part of a tradition known as doçaria conventual, translated as Conventual Sweets. These are baked goods developed by Catholic nuns and now made in bakeries all over Portugal. Each of the bakeries above was next to a historic church in the town center. There are many other sweets from old recipes to try at these bakeries.



Ecomuseu Marinha da Troncalhada,
Canal das Pirâmides
Aveiro, Portugal

Confeitaria Madre Odisseia
Rua de Coimbra, 25
Aveiro, Portugal

Zé do Pernil
Av. Dr. Lourenço Peixinho, 3800-181
Aveiro, Portugal

Café Atenas
Rua Lourenço de Almeida Azevedo 84-88
Coimbra, Portugal

Café Santa Cruz
Praca 8 de Maio
Coimbra, Portugal

Coming up: I get back on the train to see another historic city.

Part 9: One Day in Évora


A good 90 minute train ride from Lisbon, I tried to see Évora in one day on a Sunday. The town center and historic buildings in Évora were beautiful. The Capela do Ossos, a chapel made out of human skeletons was one of the most interesting things I saw on the entire trip.



Down a super-narrow side street in the city center, Fábrica dos Pastéis bakes Pasteis de Nata and other sweets and breakfast pastries.



The Pasteis de Nata from Fábrica dos Pastéis



Around the corner from the Capela Dos Ossos, next to many other restaurants for tourists is Restaurante Docas Gourmet. The picture has another group of tourists looking at the picture menu.


Migas com Carne de Porco, the big round brown shape in the back is the Migas or cooked breadcrumbs. This would be made out of Pão Alentejo with the fried pork pieces in front. The composition of this dish was bread and pork, something I didn't aim for but it seems to be a pattern with every place I go and everything I order.




On a side street completely filled with tables to people who want to eat outside Fábrica dos Gelados was the busiest place here.



The Gelado de Nata com chantilly, served in a waffle cookie cone.



Something happened while I was walking on the trail on the outskirts of town, the Eco Pista do Ramal de Mora. I had planned on making it back to the city center and eating at one of the tourist restaurants before catching the train back to Lisbon. But when I returned after 5:00 pm I found nearly every restaurant had closed. This development actually improved the sightlines of many of the open squares and historic buildings. But I was hungry and the places still open were serving ice cream or Belgian waffles. Cantinho da Tété looked much more inviting that the other places still open.



Sandes de Paio com queijo em Pão Alentejano. The lady running the place wanted me to get the toasted sandwich, A Tosta, on the same bread. The paio sausage is the local cured pork. Pão Alentejano is the local loaf with a thick crust on the exterior.



The linguiça tapa grande, with little pieces of bread in the bag behind. This was the most appealing of the tapas on the menu, more pork and bread, and I was famished after walking in and around the historic town all day.




Fábrica dos Pastéis
Alcárcova de Cima 10
Évora, Portugal

Restaurante Docas Gourmet
Rua Romão Ramalho 37A
Évora, Portugal

Fábrica dos Gelados
Alcarcova de Baixo 25
Évora, Portugal

Cantinho Da Tété Tasquinha e Artesanato
Largo Dom Álvaro Velho 8
Évora, Portugal


Coming up: One more train stop before getting back to Lisbon.

Tyrgyzistan wrote:Part 9: One Day in Évora
...when I returned after 5:00 pm I found nearly every restaurant had closed. This development actually improved the sightlines of many of the open squares and historic buildings. But I was hungry and the places still open were serving ice cream or Belgian waffles.

Not quite as severely as Barcelona, a lot of restaurants in Portugal will close mid-afternoon and not open again until at least 8PM and some after 10. The touristy stuff often will (but apparently not in Evora) stay open for more typical dinner hours, a good sign of what to avoid. Bars serving tapas are the best bet for those who wish to dine early.

Part Ten: One Day in Setúbal.

Setúbal is about one hour by train south of Lisbon, the ticket is only e5.00 one way from several of the train stations. Setúbal is not a glamorous destination. It does have a very busy market, its close to an estuary with salt flats, olive oil is grown in the hills around the town, there are a couple castles nearby and some parks with trails to explore if you have the time.





Setúbal is home to the Mercado do Livramento, a large space best known for its selection of seafood vendors.


Big fish in big cuts.


Percebes, barnacles.


Choco Grande, this is what the seafood restaurants in town offer up as Choco Frito.


Razor clams.



Statues, azulejo walls, art deco exterior, many cafes offering coffee or wine and sandwiches. There are also fruits and vegetables, meat sellers, and bakeries with long lines to buy bread.




The most interesting neighborhood in Setubal is a place called Troino. This is architecturally similar to many other older neighborhoods in Portugal. But this place has many empty buildings of places covered in graffiti. Its a little shabby. In this neighborhood is a historic grocery store, Mercearia Confiança de Troino. This place was founded in 1926 and keeps many of the old fixtures from the time.


Big scales, bins for dry goods sold in bulk, old machines for pressing the oil out of olives, just a really interesting interior. Today the place sells local goods and small sandwiches and mini wine bottles.



Espresso and cake for around e2.00



The main square of Setúbal had a franchise of Oakberry Açaí with a boombox cranking out Europop at high volume. I could not resist.


Açaí Smoothie, with granola and bananas and evaporated milk.




Later in the day I was on the East side of the central area by a couple of museums around lunch time. The best looking place was Café Paragem Obrigatória, which was only selling two different choices for lunch and one was the fried seafood specialty of Setúbal.


Sopa de Feijão com Hortaliça, beans and vegetable soup.


Choco Frito, the town specialty here with fries and a salad.


The museums near the cafe were more remarkable and surprising. The archaeology museum was 90% or more in Portuguese and had relics dating to before the Romans were here. But the really interesting place was the Museu do Trabalho Michel Giacometti dedicated to people's labor. Until 1971 the building was a working cannery or more like a factory that made the cans of sardines everywhere here in Portugal. Michel Giacometti was an anthropologist who studied labor and music. The museum goes really deep into the process of industrialization and canning and the jobs performed when towns like this industrialized and women and kids worked in over a hundred canneries just in this town. The fish processing industry here goes back to Roman times when people were forced to make the fish into a paste for the Romans.


Mercado do Livramento
Av. Luísa Todi 163
Setúbal, Portugal

Mercearia Confiança de Troino
Praça Machado dos Santos, 2
(antigo Largo da Fonte Nova)
Setúbal, Portugal

Oakberry Açai Setubal
Praça de Bocage 12
Setúbal, Portugal

Café Paragem Obrigatória
Rua Dr. António Joaquim Granjo 18
Setúbal, Portugal

Museu do Trabalho Michel Giacometti
Largo Defensores da República, 3
Setúbal, Portugal

Coming up: back to Lisbon to finish up some things.

Part 11: Better Pasteis de Nata

The first batch of Pasteis de Nata I tried were nice. But I had a feeling they could be better. There are countless bakeries serving up these delicacies. The streets are desserted, every one seems to have a bakery with these things in the window. But some places take them a little more seriously than others. When you see the words "Fábrica Propria", it means they are made on site. When the pasteis de nata are fresh from the oven, they are warm.


Rua Augusta is the main pedestrian street through the central Baixa neighborhood. It has many bakeries and restaurants. But Fábrica da Nata has a window to watch the Nata being made.


The Nata from Fábrica da Nata



Rua Garrett in the Chiado neighborhood just up a hill from Baixa, known for shopping, coffee and bakeries. This is where Castro - Atelier de Pastéis de Nata operates from an art deco storefront.


Nata and espresso.


Just a couple blocks down Rua Garrett, is Pastelaria Benard. Elie Benard was a French baker who moved to Lisbon in the 19th century, eventually his bakery and tearoom became what is know a pastry spot on this shopping street.


The Nata from Benard.




A little extra bit that didn't fit into the other posts. Lisbon and other places have guys on the street selling roasted chestnuts. Lisbon and Portugal in general are not exactly street food places or street food eaters. But you will catch people with the big chestnut roaster in some busy places.


Castanhas Assadas, by the dozen wrapped in a paper cone to go.


Fábrica da Nata
Rua Augusta nº 275 A
Lisboa, Portugal

Castro - Atelier de Pastéis de Nata
Rua Garrett 38
Lisboa, Portugal

Pastelaria Benard
Rua Garrett 104
Lisboa, Portugal

Castanhas Assadas
Praça dos Restauradores
Lisboa, Portugal


Coming up: I will share some main dishes from Lisbon.

Part 12: Main Courses in Lisbon

I had to collect the big plates, the main courses, the entrees together. Its all coming together, the trip report is nearly over.



I was coming back from the train and caught in an uncomfortable time between arrival and check in outside the Santa Apolónia Station for a couple hours. After locking away my luggage I was walking around the Alfama neighborood and there were restaurants everywhere and the waiters beckoning the tourists to come inside. I saw a dish I didn't recognize on the picture menu, and decided it was worth trying. There are many doner kebab places named Kumar in Lisbon, and many have pizza and burgers and fried chicken. I don't know if they all serve pide. This was Kumar Kebab House.


The "pide", I found out later this is a Turkish word for a baked flatbread. Here it has doner kebab fillings. This looked too good not to take a photo.



A little to the east of Alfama, in the São Vicente neighborhood is Casa Mocambo. This place is part restaurant and part event venue, with limited hours. The food here is African, with the food business supporting the music events.


Prawns in a curry sauce.



Just down the hill from the popular Castelo de São Jorge, in the diverse Mouraria neighborhood is O Cantinho do Aziz. This is a very successful restaurant with pop ups in Leeds and New York and the chef has a brand of Piri Piri sauce for sale.


Muamba de Galinha, chicken and okra with vegetables in palm oil sauce.



Just a little further down the hill from O Cantinho do Aziz is A Tasca Zé dos Cornos. I came here just a few minutes after it was opened and every seat inside was taken. I had to wait patiently by the door for a while before I could sit down. This place was busy. The grill in the corner was being loaded up with more and more of the spare ribs every few minutes.


Entrecosto Grelhado, the house specialty nearly everyone in the place was eating. The place was so crowded I couldn't lean back to get a photo. The rack of ribs is long, the side of beans is above. This had just a little seasoning on the other side. Well grilled pork meat.


Kumar Kebab House
Rua Caminhos de Ferro 138
Lisboa, Portugal

Casa Mocambo
Rua do Vale de Santo António 122A
Lisboa, Portugal

O Cantinho do Aziz
R. de São Lourenço 5
Lisboa, Portugal

A Tasca Zé dos Cornos
Beco dos Surradores 5
Lisboa, Portugal

Coming up: Finishing up at the sardine can stores in Lisbon.

So fun! Your quest for the best Pasteis de Nata reminds me of my college semester in Rennes, France. A friend and I went on the search for the best eclair au chocolat in the city. I am certain we barely scratched the surface, but it was fun. I was not smart enough then to document.

Special Addendum to Part 12: Mercado Oriental Martim Moniz




It was an especially dark and stormy day in Lisbon. I was walking along a busy street north of the central area, near the Martim Moniz square and subway station. The bright lights of the asian market building drew me in, along with the words in English: Asian Street Food. The first level in front of the entrance has a hand pulled noodle and ramen shop, and a boba tea stall. The lower floor is a grocery store Amanhecer with an expanded Asian food section. The upper floor is small food stands. The menus here seem to be Chinese restaurant terms often not even translated to Portuguese.



I opted for the hand pulled noodles from Ramen Lanzhou .


Stir Fry Noodles with Beef. I had to wait for the steam to clear to take a photo. But it was cold, the cool air from outside meant the steam took even longer to clear up. I can't take food photos with steam hanging over, it just turns out blurry. The wait was agonizing, just staring at the noodles. The soft chewy texture of the fresh noodles put into the stir fry pot, the slight seasoning, this dish really hit the spot on a cold rainy day.


I was so utterly starving I ordered a pot filled with steamed dumplings too.



More time in Lisbon after taking the train around the country meant I could return to Mercado Oriental. I took some time to scope out the stalls in the upstairs area, it was very dark and it looks like half the spaces were empty or temporarily closed. I get the idea that spots open and close and new operators come in and cross the old names off the menus and write the new names on top. There was a Vietnamese place, a sushi place, and bao rolls.


I chose the dumplings from Ravioli House. They were hand packing and sealing each little packet of dumplings to order in the tiny little booth.




The pork raviolis.


Another thing about the Mercado Oriental was the diverse crowd. There were locals and foreigners here, good numbers of Africans, Asians and Indians. The place was crowded with groups eating in the food court here or shopping at the grocery store. A lot of students and young people, many getting the ramen. I just didn't see that at a lot of the other places I was at in the trip.






Ramen Lanzhou & Noodles
Ravioli House
Mercado Oriental Martim Moniz
Rua da Palma, 41-41A
Lisbon, Portugal

Coming up: its almost over, just a couple more updates to share.

Part 13: Lojas de Conservas in Lisbon.


On one of my final days in Portugal, I was walking in the Cais do Sodré and found a couple shops with displays of Conservas, canned sardines. I had an idea that these could be found in lots of places, I mean every grocery store has some canned seafood but the selection varies from place to place. There are many different brands to choose from, some are small producers and others made for export under different names. The variation in branding and packaging designs and everything else is a little beyond my understanding, like most seafood in general. But the little cans cost as little as e2.00 and seemed like good little things to pick up.



The first shop I stepped into was Mercearia Pérola do Arsenal, a grocery store specializing in African products like beans and flours, and big cuts of bacalhau. Their selection of conservas included a couple brands that could be bought in little gift boxes.



Just a few doors down the street is Loja das Conservas. This place is just the canned seafood with the little soap bar sized cans arrayed on tables and racks. There are a few cans open to try with little bits of bread, the store will serve little petiscos or small plates for people at certain times.



The historic Conserveira de Lisboa, on Rua dos Bacalhoeiros which translates to cod fishers street. Has been in operation selling cans of sardines since 1930 as a Mercearia or grocery store. Its fixtures still reflect the old store. This shop is dedicated to just three brands of conservas: Tricana, Minor, and Prata do Mar.


On my penultimate day in Lisbon, I had to make a trip to the airport to get a Covid test and I made a decision to send my precious tuna and sardine cans from the post office there. They aren't heavy in one or two units, but a dozen of these was a little more than I wanted to carry around, and the necessity of going through two airport security routines with these sealed aluminum cans seemed best avoided.

Flash forward eight days...


...my precious box of canned seafood has arrived.



Squid, Mackerel, Ray, Sardines in Olive Oil or Curry or Teriyaki Sauce...



I have to decide whether to keep them around as souvenirs or just open them up and enjoy the seafood.



I might be able to open some of them from the back and then keep the can as a souvenir.


Mercearia Pérola do Arsenal
Rua do Arsenal 94
Lisboa, Portugal

Loja das Conservas
Rua do Arsenal 130
Lisboa, Portugal

Conserveira de Lisboa
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 34
Lisboa, Portugal


Coming up: Before I leave Portugal, I have to settle the Pastel de Nata craving once and for all.

Part 14: Pastéis de Belém

I had tried a few pasteis the nata just after checking in at Lisbon. I tried a few more the day after that and in nearly each place I visited. But one place was clearly the destination for this delicious baked confection.



Down the street from the ancient Mosteiro dos Jerónimos where devout monks perfected the recipe long ago. A bakery in operation since 1837, there used to be a sugar refinery next door. This is a destination bakery that attracts hordes of tourists. It serves tens of thousands of pasteis de nata a day. It has a long line for take out and for the seated area. The mask requirements are enforced.



They also have cakes and coffee



You can take home some azulejo tiles like the ones on the sides of the walls here.



The take out counter.



I limited myself to only four of them at once. My appetite for pasteis is sated for now. I can return home.


Pastéis de Belém
Rua de Belém 84 92
Lisboa, Portugal


This concludes the trip report. Im not some kind of country expert on Portugal, I only read one guide book, and my preparations were thrown for a loop when I bought a new phone and didn't log into google maps until I arrived and then it wouldn't let me sign in from Europe. I didn't decide where to go within the country until the last minute, and I changed plans when the weather was very rainy. I thought about visiting the islands off the coast, but that would involve more covid protocols and flights to figure out. I even thought about catching a budget flight to Morocco to scratch that off my bucket list but the timetables and protocols didn't fit. I didn't visit the wine country around Porto, and I never made it to the south or the Algarve either. I may have limited myself by using public transportation, buses and trains are useful for the big cities but the small town "aldeias" or National Parks are places you need a car or bike to get to.


I was more concerned with getting back to an old habit, going out and taking photos of food. I think I shared over 100.

I spent too much time before the trip worrying about protocols and what I needed to get flying and into the country. It turns out I just needed a passport and a negative covid test, the border agents at the airport actually looked at the test results and checked the name and date and compared it to my passport. The airlines asked for me to complete forms for entering countries and for transiting, those seem to just be updated versions of the same arrival forms that would be handed out at the end of international flights where you just fill out where you are staying and for how long. The airports and flights were as crowded and backed up as ever, with plenty of stressed out people and some of my flights were delayed significantly.

Only 4? On our way out of Lisbon we took one more trip to Belem and got two tube-shaped packs of 6, one for us to eat, and one for friends.

But they're best warm and fresh.

Just returned from a short trip to Lisbon. My husband had meetings there all week and I caught him on the tail end for a long weekend. I had given him a list of places to try with a large group, but saved quite a few places for us to try over the weekend that were better suited to smaller parties. On the day that I arrived we attempted to grab lunch at O Vinho Eurico , which looked delicious and was very busy, but the wait was an hour plus and it didn’t seem real certain if we could walk away and come back. Being jetlagged and super hot after climbing up hill, we decided to not wait. We attempted to go to a nearby Bifana place that looked great too, but it was also jam packed and had no seating, so we headed back towards our hotel to Boa Bao where my husband had eaten earlier in the week and enjoyed. We stopped at a Ginjihna bar on the way and grabbed a quick shot of Ginja. There was no wait at Boa Bao, but it was bustling. We split a the sea bass bao and the crispy chicken bao and the duck spring rolls, it was all very good. The standout was the sea bass, it was cooked perfectly and had delicious spicy mayo and pickles.

Before we went to traipse the hills of Alfama, we stopped at Alcôa, a beautiful patisserie down the street from our hotel, which is known for using traditional convent recipes. We sampled their pasteis de nata, as well as a heart shaped treat made with almonds and a pastry apparently made for the Pope that was made with spaghetti squash and adorned with spun sugar. All were delicious, as was the coffee. I ended up going back there a few times during our visit due to its proximity and deliciousness.
Alcôa Pastries and Coffee


For dinner that night I had reservations at Mini Bar, which is designed to look like a speak easy in the back part of the Bairro do Avillez building (an old Convent) which contains several of José Avillez's restaurant concepts We chose to do the larger of the two tasting menus offered (though à la carte was also an option). It was a beautiful and memorable meal, it started with mini cocktail bites (margarita diamonds and apple rose), we loved the salmon nigiri that was over a crispy rice cake, the tuna tamaki, the cotton candy foie gras which was topped with smoked paprika, the fresh bread was warm and served with a cup of egg yolks and a truffled butter, the prawn was outstanding, every course was exceptional and then dessert was one of my favorites, a passionfruit mousse over a coconut sorbet, it was tart and sweet and crunchy and amazing. There were also some playful and tasty petit fours to end the meal.
Diamond Cocktail Bites


Salmon Nigiri


Prawns


Petit Fours (Strawberry Tacos, Cactus Marshmallows and Peanuts)




The next day we did a wonderful Culinary Backstreets tour that took as all over the Esterela and Campo de Ourique neighborhoods. It was nice to be out of the tourist bustle of Chiado and explore the markets and small restaurants of these more residential areas and learn about Portuguese history and Lisbon. We sampled Goan, Madeiran and Portuguese specialties including food, wine, beer, cheese and pastries at several different market stalls, shops and restaurants and had some delicious pasteis de nata to finish the afternoon at Aloma. This may have been one of my favorite pastel de natas during the trip.

Although we didn't think we'd be hungry that evening, I had a reservation at Sála de João Sá and once seated we couldn’t resist the tasting menu... there was a prix fixe choose your own three course option as well. This restaurant felt by far a bit more formal than the others we had been to in Lisbon. Though footwear still leaned towards comfort (a necessity in this city) and many people were still in jeans. I was amazed that Lisbon overall was much less formal than most European capitals, even at Michelin starred establishments. Service was exceptional, the highlights of the meal for me were the Octopus rice, the turbot and the smoked cockles in lemon gel. The spider crab dish was almost to beautiful to eat. We drank some delicious Portuguese sparkling, white wine from the Azores, as well as a Portuguese pinot noir. They had exceptional recommendations even though we opted to not do the full pairing. They added a special tres leches cake for my husband’s birthday and it was the best tres leches cake either of us had ever had.
Spider Crab at Sála de João Sá


My husband wasn’t feeling well the next day, so I was off to the pharmacy and stopped by Alcôa again for a savory ham and cheese pastry and a couple cappuccinos. I had made lunch reservations at Cervejaria Ramiro and although he had been looking forward to it all week, he wasn’t feeling well enough to go, so I took one for the team and went solo (reservations required pre-payment of 50€). As expected, the place was a zoo, but also quite well organized. Since I had a reservation I was seated fairly quickly. As a party of one, I was seated at a communal table kitty corner with another solo diner. Although I couldn’t really make a dent in the menu, I had the clams in garlic sauce and the special large prawns in garlic butter (heads plated separately) and their amazing bread to soak up that clam broth. As everyone says, the seafood was fresh, simple and absolutely delicious. I was too full for the prego meat sandwich dessert, but next time I will make sure to go with others so I can try it all.
Large Prawn Special in Garlic Butter


That evening we took dinner to go from the Time Out Market and sat in the nearby park to eat. I tried the francesinha sandwich at Miguel Castro e Silva, the specialty from Porto was braised beef and sausages open faced and covered with melted cheese, it came with a large vat of braising liquid to douse it in, probably not the wisest choice for a takeaway meal, but I still enjoyed every messy, saucy bit of it. I also enjoyed my last pastel de nata of the trip at Manteigaria which may have taken the place of Aloma as my favorite, I’ll really have to do a side by side comparison next time. We also stopped at Grom for a gelato on our way home, which I had remembered being one of my favorites in Rome. The pistachio did not disappoint.

Overall we had an amazing trip, it was cut short by a day, so there was more on my list to try and more sites I wanted to see. It was great to make advance reservations at most places, that really seemed to be the way to go where they were accepted, although many required credit cards for either deposit or to charge in case of last minute cancellation. The city was beautiful and the people were amazingly friendly and fun. I can’t wait to go back.

O Venho Eurico - on my list for next time when I can wait
Largo São Cristóvão nº3, 1100-179 Lisboa, Portugal

BOA-BAO
Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro 30, 1200-369 Lisboa, Portugal

Alcôa Conventual Sweets
R. Garrett 37, 1200-309 Lisboa, Portugal

Mini Bar
R. Nova da Trindade 18, 1200-235 Lisboa, Portugal

Sála de João Sá
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros 103, 1100-068 Lisboa, Portugal

Aloma
R. Francisco Metrass 67, 1350-139 Lisboa, Portugal

Cervejaria Ramiro
Av. Alm. Reis 1 H, 1150-007 Lisboa, Portugal

Time Out Market
Av. 24 de Julho 49, 1200-479 Lisboa, Portugal

Grom
R. Garrett 42, 1200-204 Lisboa, Portugal

2024 Part One: Back in Lisboa


It's like I didn't put too much planning into this trip, and it might not have turned out the way I thought it would. Maybe my passport was sent back to me from the State Department much faster than I had anticipated, or the season was approaching and I had to take my vacation now or not be able to use it later. But I had to move fast on relatively short notice after booking.


But on a short stop in Lisbon, I was able to stop in at a few places I missed the first time around. My map app didn't crash this time. The list I had made years earlier still had some names that weren't crossed off. This was like a second chance to catch up.



I had read about a dish called cachupa, known as the national dish of Cape Verde. There are a few places in Lisbon that serve this treat. I was in Arroios and had a chance to grab a seat at Fox Coffee, which calls itself "O Rei da Cachupa", The King of Cachupa.




The appetizer the wait staff talked me into buying, was an empada with beef inside.




The main draw, the Cachupa Refogada. Refogado roughly means leftovers. Underneath the egg and sausage was the main section of hominy beans, with a variety of unidentifiable cuts of beef and pork. This was rich and filling in a big portion spooned out of the pot into a plate.






Acarajé da Carol opened in the heavily touristed area of Bairro Alto just outside the city center. This place has been here since 2019 but I had not been in before now.




Abará com camarão no prato, the black bean abara with caruru sauce and shrimp on the side. This is like acarajé but not fried and served on a plate. I hadn't had any Brazilian or Bahian food in a while.





I had tried quite a few of the pastelarias, or pastry shops, on my last visit. But one had proven out of reach with its out-of-the-way location in the Saldanha neighborhood. This bakery is luxurious and rich like the palace it is named for. Versailles is an old Pastel de Nata shop and cafe with an art nouveau exterior and lots of mirrors in the crowded and busy interior. The counters have countless baked goods to choose from, but I just wanted to get back to the Pastel de Nata.



I wasn't able to get a seat outside and couldn't get good natural light for the photo.



Just down the street is a gelato shop operated by the same company. This place was empty when I stopped in.



The gelato de Nata, cream flavored gelato.


FOX COFFEE "O rei da cachupa"
R. António Pedro 177
Lisboa, Portugal


Acarajé da Carol
R. da Rosa 63
Lisboa, Portugal


Versailles
Av. da República 15
Lisboa, Portugal


Gelataria Versailles
Av. da República 21
Lisboa, Portugal


Coming up: Lisboa was nice to get back to for a short stopover, but it wasn't the final destination.